Brotherband Chronicles Meets Ranger's Apprentice
by bubblystream
Summary: This is something I've been thinking about for a while, but I just started. I thought I'd better get it out before Royal Ranger and new Brotherband Chronicles Books. It's about the Herons and Will's apprentice.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so this is my first story- be nice. Please review! Next chapters will be longer. And, of course, I don't own Ranger's Apprentice or Brotherband Chronicles.**

**Chapter One**

Gilan sighed and took another sip of his coffee. Another assignment – done. And also, it was nice to spend some time out just camping, like he had before. Of course, someone was bound to show up…Well, he'd see soon enough.

Gilan glanced at Blaze. "Well, what do you think? Anyone around?"

Blaze looked at him through one eye. _Don't you think I would have told you if there was?_

"I was just making conversation."

_Anybody who saw you would think you were crazy._

"Nice of you to say so. Well, I'm off to bed. I don't think you-know-who will show up tonight."

_That's what you think._

Gilan eyed his horse for a moment, then shook his head. He would never get the last word with this horse.

The intruder quietly moved through the forest, taking care not to make noise. The figure went up to Blaze, murmuring soft words, then moved to the food. Moments later, the figure was gone.

"It's gone."

Blaze shook her mane, whinnying. _I told you._

"Be quiet. This is a crisis. The coffee is gone. There's no one who could've done it except our visitor. And you told me that there wasn't anyone around."

_Well, when I said that, "our visitor" wasn't around._

"Well, I'll be watching tonight."

_"Our visitor" is smart enough to know that and not come back tonight._

"Oh, be quiet."

As it turned out, Blaze was right. The intruder did not come back that night. He or she came only on nights that Gilan wasn't watching.

At least, they did until the third time.

Gilan took a deep breath. Tonight would be the night. He would capture them once and for all. Hopefully.

Once again, the intruder came quietly, first going to Blaze, quieting her, convincing her to be quiet. Then they began to move toward the food.

And Gilan jumped out, training an arrow on them.

The figure froze for a single moment before dropping to the ground and rolling away quickly.

And the chase was on!

The intruder ran surprisingly quickly, and incredibly softly. He or she was also clever.

As soon as Gilan lost them in his sight, the intruder stopped and, typically, climbed a tree.

But Gilan, luckily, caught sight of the intruder.

He caught up quickly, and shot an arrow, nearly catching his or her cloak.

The figure turned, raising a bow of its own, and neatly placing arrows that missed him by millimeters. Gilan drew his sword, and the figure produced two knives that seemed to be almost eerily similar to the ones he wore at his side.

And the fight began. Gilan was, as you may know, a master swordsman, but this fighter – this one gave him trouble. At long last, he disarmed the figure, who then reached up and pushed back the cowl on her cloak.

It was a girl. Fifteen years of age, with long, glossy black hair and piercing, incredibly alert green eyes. But where, one had to wonder, where had she come from? And why was she fighting with a Ranger? For that matter, what was the Ranger even doing there? Wasn't he the Ranger of Whitby fief?

And, most importantly, what'll it take to stop the author from asking these questions?


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so here's Chapter Two. Still not that long, but getting there. Be patient. Hope you like! Review please.**

**You will soon understand where the Brotherband Chronicles come from.**

**Chapter Two**

Before: _And the fight began. Gilan was, as you may know, a master swordsman, but this fighter – this one gave him trouble. At long last, he disarmed the figure, who then reached up and pushed back the cowl on her cloak._

_It was a girl. Sixteen years of age, with long, glossy black hair and piercing, incredibly alert green eyes._

"So," the girl said cheerfully, "how'd I do?

Gilan lowered his sword. "Fine, as you well know."

She grinned. "So, I don't have to repeat this year?"

"Of course not!"

"Good." She turned and yelled into the trees, "You hear that, Will? I don't have to repeat this year! You'll be able to get rid of me sooner after all!"

The Ranger came out, grinning wildly. "Wonderful! I'm sure you did very well, even if you did get caught…"

"Oh, be quiet…'

"Well, come on, Roxie, you can do better than that."

"Well, I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but no, I really can't."

Gilan coughed, and the two turned to look at him.

"You know," Gilan began, "I'm happy that you thought of me for this and all, but would you mind choosing Halt next year? I'm rather tired of trying to track her down."

"There isn't going to be a next year," Roxie informed him. "I'm going to the Gathering next year."

"Are you sure? It'd be the first year…" Gilan trailed off. He'd forgotten. It was a rather touchy subject for the young apprentice. After all, she'd been in training for so long, it had gotten to her. A lot.

"I. Know."

He shrugged. "Sorry. I forgot."

Roxie sighed. "Whatever."

As they walked along, Will couldn't help but reflect on the story of _why_ Roxie hadn't come to any Gatherings…

Thirteen years ago, give or take a few months, he and Alyss had taken in a tenant. The woman had brought a little girl with her. On the day she left, they didn't see her or the girl. That night, Will and Alyss had heard a noise from downstairs. Will had gone down to see what it was. What he had found, was a girl, the little three-year-old sitting in a corner under a table, crying. Will, surprised, quickly identified the girl as the one who had been with the tenant.

He had comforted her as best he could, until she finally trusted him enough to come out.

"What are you doing here, all alone?" he had asked.

He could still remember vividly the infectious smile that she had given him, and the way she had informed him that her mother had told her to wait until she came back, even though it might be a while. Then she had handed him a note.

That night, she slept with Will and Alyss, curled up in the exact middle of the bed, slurping on her fingers.

A few months later, she had convinced him to train her.

It was only silent movement, he reasoned with himself. It wasn't like she was his apprentice.

Just silent movement had turned into unarmed fighting. After all, she needed to defend herself. Then, he had taught her how to track.

Eventually, he admitted that he was beginning to think of her as an apprentice. And that was when he got her the knives.

Then – on her eighth birthday – a recurve bow.

It took a while, but finally, three years ago, when she was thirteen, he had convinced Crowley to admit her as a real apprentice. That was when she was allowed, technically, to bring her to the Gathering. But he'd managed to find excuses every year, afraid to bring her to Gathering for fear of her being rejected.

By then, he had come to think of her as a kind of daughter. He knew who her parents were, of course, it had been in the note, but her parents weren't really there for her. Even thought they spent every summer in the home, she barely knew her siblings, let alone her parents.

However, she had long been accepted in the Treaty household. Alyss and Will, when they had found Roxie, had had one other child – a seven-year-old named Nick.

They were both handfuls, so they ended up being the only two. But it was still an enthusiastic, lively atmosphere, full of energy and happiness.

After Roxie had gotten used to the others, of course. For the first few months, she didn't trust them and wouldn't leave Will's side. Literally. Then she decided, overnight, that she liked them and switched to following Nick around. He actually had to take her to school with him a couple times, because she wouldn't let go of him.

She had grown up to become a regular tomboy, and taking after Will with surprising interest. She had the skills of a full-fledged Ranger, and she enjoyed every bit of it. She accompanied Will on almost all of his missions, though she also had a slight interest in diplomacy.

However, there were always the missions that Will went on alone.

And speaking of which…

"Roxie?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got a solo mission in a couple days. I'll be gone for at least four months. Will you and Nick be fine together? Alyss will be gone as well."

"Of _course_ we'll be fine," Roxie assured him cheerfully. "We always are."

Will gave her a sideways glance. "Yes, but you won't leave Redmont?"

"I can't promise that."

"Roxie."

"What? You know I do spur of the moment things. But I'll tell you what – I'll try not to let you know if I do leave. Send in a note to school and everything."

"That's very comforting. I'm glad to hear it," Will said dryly.

Roxie grinned at him, obviously completely unconcerned. "It'll be good practice. Trying to cover my tracks and all."

"Like you need it."

"Practice is important. Aren't I right, Gilan? Practice makes perfect."

"She's got a point."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Both of you? Are you serious?"

Gilan laughed, and the three rode on, with comfortable chatter despite their differences.

Two days after Will left on his trip, Roxie was curled up in her room, reading.

Then Nick came running through the door.

"Roxie," he gasped. "It's that guy you were looking for. Zavac? He's not far. Cambridge fief. Over by the coast."

In an instant the girl was on her feet. "Really? You're sure?"

"Positive."

She hesitated. "Will doesn't want me to go anywhere." There was a momentary pause while she looked worried, then she waved it off. "What he doesn't know won't kill him."

"Do you have any consideration for the fact that he _ordered_ you not to leave?"

"No. Not when it comes to this."

"Fair enough. What will you need before you get going?"

Hal Mikkelson studied the maps on the table before him. "Northeast," he murmured to himself. Then he raised his voice so the others could hear. "Edvin? Speed?"

"Checking!" There was a slight pause. "A little under seven."

"We'll be there in about an hour and a half," Hal announced. "Then we'll get the Andomal back once and for all."

"Wonderful," Thorn said. "So, where'd Lydia go?"

"I have no idea," Hal admitted. "Maybe with Ingvar."

"Again?" Stig looked slightly annoyed by this. When Thorn had finally gotten tired of watching the way Hal and Stig acted around Lydia, he had asked her, in front of the entire crew, who she liked better. Lydia had paused, then announced that she liked Ingvar best. She had quickly become the boy's girlfriend. Hal had gotten over it quickly, but Stig still had slight traces of resentment. Only slight traces, but they were definitely there.

"You need to get over it," Hal told his best friend.

"I know," Stig agreed.

"Hal?" Ingvar called.

"What is it?"

"Where are we going?"

Hal checked the maps again. "A town in Araluen. Cambridge fief – a town on the coast. It isn't labeled on this map, but I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing."

"How will we know where to go?" Edvin was coming over, frowning a little at the thought of the unfamiliar terrain.

Hal shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to find a guide. There'll be plenty of people in the town who would be willing to help us, I'm sure."

"Well, good luck to us," one of the twins said.

Roxie nudged Star in the side, upping the pace a little. She _had_ to get there before Zavoc left. He was the key to remembering part of her past, after all. It was impossible to know exactly how he tied in, but he was one of her few leads to Sam.

_Sam_. Roxie was immediately besieged with memories of him. Back when they had both been ten, before he had gone. His smile, the way he used to look at her with that crazy reckless look in his eyes, the way he used to yell with delight…

Roxie shook it off angrily.

"Come on, Star. We ought to hurry. We have to get there quickly. Hurry, Starlight."

Roxie hoped desperately that they would get there in time. She wasn't sure what she would do if she lost this lead, too.

However, if he ended up at that castle, she'd need others to help her get in.

Well, maybe she'd be lucky, and there'd be someone else there, searching for Zavac. Someone who needed her help as much as she needed theirs. One could only hope.


	3. Chapter 3

All right, getting into the longer chapters now! Oh yeah – disclaimer: I don't own either. Unfortunately. Read and review – tell me whether you like it or not!

Chapter Three

Hal's assessment had been slightly off. It took them two hours and forty-five minutes. But either way, it didn't change what they saw when they arrived on the coast of Araluen.

The _Raven_ was anchored at the dock. She seemed to be empty, though it was impossible to know where her crew was. At that moment however, they saw a box suddenly fall over the edge like it had been pushed.

As though there was someone there. But there was no one, no matter how hard they looked.

All in all, the sight was quite imposing.

"There she is," Hal called softly. "In port. We were right. This is the place."

"No," Stig corrected him, in the same soft tone. "You were right. The rest of us didn't have much to do with it."

"Whether you did or didn't, we're almost sure of taking it."

"Almost?"

"We thought we were sure in Raguza, but they got away then," Hal pointed out.

"True. The cowards. We won and they know it."

"Well, we've caught up to them now."

Roxie arrived at the town fairly quickly. She dismounted, then turned to Starlight. "Hey, Star. I need you to stay here for a minute – or, well, probably an hour or so."

_You know there are commands for that sort of thing._

Roxie looked at the horse for a long moment. "Maybe I want to be my own person and not command my horse. Especially since my horse is fairly insolent."

_Insolent? I am not_ insolent.

"Yeah, you are. And, for that matter, so am I. We just choose not to admit it around other people."

_If you say so…_

"I do. See you later." Roxie ran off before Star could reply, carefully slipping through town until she came to the port. Roxie licked her lips, suddenly nervous, and slipped up the cowl on her cloak and stepped onto Zavoc's ship, doing her best not to be seen.

Roxie searched the entire ship, but there was no one there. She couldn't help but feel incredibly frustrated. Roxie shoved a box off the side of the ship, then, in the same instant, caught sight of another ship, coming closer.

Instinctively, Roxie froze, praying that her cloak would hide her. It did. Or, at least, she thought it did.

Roxie frowned at the new ship. It seemed to be a Skandian wolfship, but it was different. And she seemed to be lighter in the water. Added to that, the crew seemed to be unusually young. She couldn't see much, but that was what she thought.

After a moment's hesitation, Roxie stepped off the ship, and found a place in the shadows where she could watch easily and unseen as the Skandian ship came into port, hoping she could make out more details in the ship's crew.

However, when the ship did anchor, the entire crew had their faces covered. Roxie glared at them for a moment, then, with a sigh, she carefully shuffled over to them, until she could hear what they were saying.

"All right," one of the figures began. "Ulf, Stefan, Jesper – you find out more about this town. Wulf, Stig, Edvin, Thorn, you get information about where Zavac would be. Ingvar, Lydia, and I will be in the forest. Meet us there once you've got the general idea, then we'll see about finding a guide."

A guide? They needed a guide? Well, well, look who just found someone who needed their help! Roxie wasn't entirely sure how much use they would be, but if they needed a guide, they had one.

Now one of the others was talking. "Hal," the person began. "What exactly do you want to know about the town?"

"Anything you think might be useful. Find out what their main trade is, how many fighters, that sort of thing."

"There aren't many." Roxie, who had made a decision, stepped forward to talk to them. She was careful to disguise her voice. She didn't want them to be able to identify her as a girl, let alone recognize her voice.

The leader, Hal, started, but didn't jump in the air, like a few of the others did.

"Who in Lori's name are you?" he snapped.

"So you are Skandians," Roxie observed. "Meet me in the forest. I'll tell you everything you need to know. Including where Zavac is, if you give me a minute or two. Try to be there as fast as possible if you're going to want me as a guide. I'll be right back."

With that, Roxie faded away, going immediately where she thought the information was most likely to be.

As soon as she had gone, conversation exploded from the Skandians.

"Who was that?"

"What did he mean, about a guide?"

"He knows where Zavac is?"

And so on.

"Quiet!" Hal ordered. "Here's what we're going to do. We are going to meet him, but we aren't going to make any promises or agreements until we know something about him."

"You do know something about him," Thorn interjected. "That was a Ranger's cloak he was wearing, as well as that bow. Whoever that was, he's obviously a Ranger, or at least an apprentice, which means he's unlikely to have many other people with them. He'll probably have a horse with him and he's quite dangerous, though he did seem rather…slim."

"Well, that explains a lot," Hal reflected. "All right, we'll meet him, but keep your weapons out."

Roxie was waiting at the fringe of the forest. Trusting or not, she was pretty sure they would show up, if only because she had intrigued them.

Her expectations turned out to be true. They showed up fairly quickly, heavily armed and still covered.

Roxie waited until they found a clearing, then stepped out, carefully holding her bow so it would be easy to nock an arrow and aim it at the leader in the space of only a few seconds.

As it turned out, that was a wise decision. As soon as Roxie showed herself, she had two crossbows trained on her. Roxie noted with interest that one of them was the leader. Then she noted that the others had 'disappeared'.

Keeping her voice low in pitch, Roxie called out, "Tell your friends to come out of hiding."

"Drop your bow," Hal countered.

"Let's compromise. You have your friends come out, and I'll call out mine."

There was a slight pause. "What friends?"

"Or, even better, whichever friends of yours I point out have to show themselves. There's one behind that tree, a few over there by that cave, one behind that bush, and I'm fairly sure that the last one is behind that tree over there. You're all really bad at hiding, you know. You ought to take lessons from the Ranger Corps. I mean, come on, you can't find my friends, can you?"

Hal hesitated for just a moment, then nodded to the others, and, one by one, they all came out.

"Your turn," he said tightly. "Call out your friends."

"I lied," Roxie said calmly. "I don't have any friends with me."

At that moment, a whinny rang out from somewhere behind Roxie, who glanced behind her. "My apologies, Star. I forgot about you. Yes, you'd better come out. Just to be fair."

The entire Heron brotherband and Lydia stared as a horse came out, almost prancing, looking very dignified and a little smug.

"Now," Roxie said slowly, "please drop your crossbows. I'll drop my recurve bow if you drop your crossbows."

While both parties eyed the other mistrustfully, Hal, Jesper, and Roxie all set down their weapons.

"Now," Hal said, "Uncover your face. If you don't have any friends with you, then we can easily overpower you."

Unfortunately, Roxie forgot to disguise her voice. "You're delusional if you think that."

Hal gaped. "You're a _girl_?"

"Great. There goes any hope of disguising myself. And, yes, brilliant observation, Sherlock. Way to state the obvious. You're a boy. Do I get a prize?"

Hal recovered his composure after a moment. "Uncover your face."

"Since when are you calling the shots?" Roxie inquired.

"Since I said so," Hal replied shortly.

"Ooh, good answer. Let's compromise again. We'll do it at the same time, you and me. That way we can both pick the other out of a lineup."

"You use sarcasm a lot, don't you?"

"Sure. It's fun. Shall we?"

Roxie and Hal both reached up and, at the exact same time, they both pushed back the cowls on their cloaks.

Hal POV

The first thing he noticed about her was her eyes. They were bright green, with a slightly guarded look, and incredibly alert. Then he took in the rest of her. Something about the girl's honey-colored skin and glossy black hair reminded him of Lydia.

Hal looked the girl up and down. He had a feeling that Thorn had been right – she was a lot more dangerous than she looked. It was in the way she carried herself. Clearly, she didn't have an inflated opinion of herself, but she had an air of confidence that said she wasn't fazed by the odds – and that she was sure she could take care of herself.

Which, of course, was probably true.

Roxie POV

He was tall, with fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. He had the kind of easy grace that seemed to follow all talented swordsmen. He had a quiet air of confidence – not too obvious, but clear enough that he knew how to fight. He must have been a good leader, because the others were all waiting for him to say something. And, of course, she had already seen his skills as a helmsman.

All in all, Roxie was quite impressed. He looked like the kind of guy she could be good friends with.

As though they both realized what was transpiring at the same time, Roxie and Hal both looked away.

"Uh, okay." Roxie tried to sound the same as she had before. "I think I can pick you out of a lineup now, and..Oh, no. You're _Skandians_. Will's gonna visit…Oh, no. He's gonna _kill_ me! And not like before, I mean, really actually kill me. Oh, no. Oh no, oh no, oh no…"

"Wait…what?"

Roxie glanced at Hal. "Will. Will Treaty, my mentor. I'm not supposed to be here."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because…I never do what I'm supposed to. But this time I had such a good _lead_, and I just figured I could cover all my tracks, but I can't do that if I meet people, and Will visits Skandia sometimes, so if he runs into any of you, or if anyone else finds out about me, he'll confiscate my notebook, and – "

"Sorry, but – your _notebook_?" The tone in Hal's voice indicated that he didn't think this was a suitable punishment for anything.

"Yeah, my notebook. I write everything in it. I mean, it's kind of like a journal, but not _just_ a journal, because I always have it with me and I don't just write down what happens in it, and I write lists and stuff in it too, and I can't have Will confiscate it, I just wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything at all, and I really don't know why I'm telling you this, and I probably shouldn't have ridden for so long through the night because I'm really sleep-deprived, which means I'm really random, kind of like Becca, after she has too much sugar, and the weather is really nice today, and now I'm rambling, which is kind of weird, because you'd think that since I'm aware of it and I don't know you I would stop, but I'm not, and I just got the strangest urge for coffee, and I think we should probably figure out what we're doing here, and I should really stop talking now, and I think I'm going to sleep in a tree tonight, because I'm not in the mood to set up a tent, and you know, I keep thinking of that one Taylor Swift song – Everything Has Changed, and I really hope you don't know that song because that would just make things awkward, and now I'm going to stop talking."

"…_What_?"

The girl shrugged. "I'm sleep-deprived. I'm going to be acting weird and out of character. Hey, I should tell you my name, huh? I'm Roxie. Well, technically, I'm Roxanne Alison Mignonette Renaldi, but I don't like it when people call me anything other than Roxie, Rox, or Renaldi, if I don't get along with them. Or the occasional Miss Treaty when people think I'm Will's daughter."

"Um, right. I'm Hal, and this is Thorn, Jesper, Ingvar, Stefan, Stig, Ulf and Wulf, or vice versa, I'm really not sure, and Edvin. And that's Lydia."

"Nice to meet you. Let's decide what we're going to do, and set up camp for the night, and drink coffee. I really want coffee right now."

Hal shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

So that was what they did. Roxie refused to discuss anything until she had her entire camp set up and coffee in her hand. Surprisingly, that didn't take very long. The girl was surprisingly efficient when it came to setting up camp. Obviously she had done it many times before. Where it took the Skandians at least an hour, she had her entire setup done in fifteen minutes AND had started the coffee. Roxie waited patiently until the Herons had decided where to sleep, collected their things, and begun to set up, but then she got impatient.

"Oh, move aside," she ordered. Then she set up their camp in half an hour. For ten people.

The Herons all watched, feeling slightly indignant, but definitely not upset.

"There," the girl said.

She turned around, then caught sight of Lydia. She was instantly surprised. "Wait…did you say her name was _Lydia_?"

Lydia laughed. "I was wondering when you would recognize me." The two girls hugged each other and exchanged greetings.

"So." Roxie looked her up and down. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived in Limmat?"

"Well, I thought _you_ lived in Redmont."

" I do. I was following a lead on…you know."

"Oh," Lydia nodded.

"But what about you?"

"Well," Lydia said after a moment's reflection. "They just happened to drop by while my town was in danger, and I ended up leaving with them. Barat was getting kind of annoying," she added.

"I know exactly how you feel. Remember Asher?"

"Has he _still_ not learned how to take a hint?"

At this point, Hal, tired of not knowing what was going on, decided to speak up. "Would you mind telling us exactly _how_ you two know each other?"

"Sure," Roxie shrugged. "We're cousins, on my dad's side of the family."

"…cousins?" Stig looked fairly skeptical.

"Yes, now do you mind if we have coffee? Because coffee is the most amazing thing ever and I love it and I've been waiting to have it, and if I don't have some soon then I may just have to – "

"Yes," Lydia interrupted. "I'm sure we all understand how much you Rangers are addicted to coffee. On the other hand, we ran out."

"No problem," the girl assured her. "I've got it. And dinner, too, for that matter."

"Really?" Edvin brightened, then suddenly frowned. "Wait. How well can you cook?"

"You'll like it," Roxie assured him. "Cooking is part of the Ranger curriculum."

"But…you're still an apprentice, aren't you? I mean, you're kind of young to be a full Ranger," Thorn pointed out.

Roxie hesitated. "I'm an…interesting case." Then she turned toward the trees and continued in a slightly louder voice, "You can confirm that, can't you? Would you care to join us?"

After a slight pause, a tall young man with a Ranger cloak stepped out of the trees. "Well, fancy meeting you here, Roxie," he smiled.

"Hey, Clark. Don't tell Will I'm here, all right?"

"My lips are sealed. Is Nick with you?"

"No, sorry. Just me and Star."

Hal sighed, exasperated. "I _thought_ you said you didn't have any friends with you."

Roxie shrugged again. "I didn't think I did. This is Clark. He's the Ranger from this fief. He'll tell you everything you need to know while I get some things from the market."

With that, she was gone.

"So."

"So."

Hal and Clark eyed each other mistrustfully.

"All right," Hal said finally. "What did Roxie mean when she said she was an interesting case?"

Clark shrugged. "Well, if she finishes her apprenticeship, she'll be the first female Ranger. She lives with Will for most of the year, and she started her training when she was pretty young, but she only just started her official apprenticeship. Almost three years ago, when she was thirteen."

"So, now she's sixteen."

"Fifteen," Clark corrected him. "She turns sixteen in a couple of months."

"All right." There was another pause.

"So. How do you know Roxie?" Hal tried.

Clark shrugged. "I'm a friend of her brother's. His name is Nick."

"You know you can ask questions, too," Lydia put in. "It's not illegal."

"All right. How do you know Roxie?"

"I met her about an hour ago," Hal told him.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Um, well, she offered to help guide us to Zavac."

"Zavac?" Clark frowned. "Who's Zavac, and why is she trying to find him?"

"What makes you think she's trying to find him?"

Clark shrugged. "I doubt she has much time left before Will comes back, and – no offense – I doubt she'd waste time guiding you to him unless she was trying to find him too."

At that point in the conversation, Lydia stepped forward. "She's following a lead on Sam."

"Oh," Clark said, nodding.

Hal frowned. "Who's Sam?"

Lydia and Clark exchanged looks. "That's something that you'll have to ask Roxie about," Lydia answered. "It's her story to tell, if she chooses to."

Hal threw his hands into the air. "What is going on?" he snapped. "All I know is that a little less than an hour ago, some random girl offered to be our guide. Then it turns out Lydia knows her. Then she calls a friend out and decides to leave for a while. And, if it wasn't already strange enough, her horse acts like a human. Does _anybody_ want to explain what's going on?"

"Well, her horse – Star – is pretty much just a very intelligent horse who has a strange idea that she can be understood by everyone, not just Roxie," Lydia offered.

"You _know_ what I meant."

"Meant by what?" Roxie was back, looking slightly amused by something.

"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly are you doing here if you live in Redmont? And why did you agree to help us, just like that?"

As it turned out, Hal could be very blunt when he needed to be.

Roxie seemed completely unconcerned. "Over coffee," she insisted.

The first thing she did, however, was make dinner. They had to wait for what seemed like hours for the stew to simmer. It was like torture, really. They hadn't had hot food in days, and they had never seen a recipe quite like this one before.

Then, finally, it was ready. They scrambled over each other to get in line.

"First of all, ladies first." They waited while Roxie served Lydia. "Second," the Ranger continued, "Hal. He's the skirl, right?" Hal, grinning, accepted the bowl. "Third, Edvin."

"What?" Stig demanded. "Why?"

Roxie turned to face him, hands on hips. "Because I said so."

Stig was smart enough not to argue. After Edvin, it was Clark. Then Thorn. Then Ulf and Wulf. Then Ingvar, then Stig, then Jesper, then Stefan. Nobody talked while they ate – it had been so long since most of them had had good food available, they wanted to enjoy it while they could. Right as everyone finished dinner, the coffee was ready. Roxie helped herself to a generous amount, then let everyone else figure it out themselves.

"So. Ready to answer questions yet?" Hal asked after everyone was settled.

"Absolutely. First of all, you're right, I do live in Redmont, but I'm here looking for a friend of mine. His name is Sam." Roxie frowned a little, like she was remembering him, then she shook it off. "That's a story I'll tell you later if you really want to know. Second, I agreed to help you because I need your help, too. I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that you want to fight Zavac, not join him. And I need you to help me get to Zavac so I can ask him some questions. He's in a fortress, and I don't know it well enough to sneak in, so it would be easier to fight my way in – which is why I need you guys. And before you ask, I know you're out to fight him because you were talking about fighters earlier. And, anyway, Lydia's with you. I know Lydia wouldn't join up with Zavac after everything that happened."

"Definitely not," Lydia agreed.

"Why, what happened?" Thorn asked.

"Not going to tell you."

"Then how do we know we can trust you?" Thorn countered.

"You don't. But Lydia trusts me, and like your friend here – Hal, was it? – pointed out, the ten of you could easily overpower me." Roxie's voice was surprisingly cool.

Hal couldn't resist the temptation to respond. "But you don't believe that. You don't think we could," the skirl pointed out.

Roxie raised one eyebrow. "Oh, I think you could," the girl assured him. "I just don't think you could do it _easily_. At the very least, I'd take a few of you down with me."

"You haven't seen us fight," Hal pointed out.

"And yet – all of you would need to get in close range. Well, most of you, anyway. And I'm a Ranger. I could easily shoot three of you before you got an arrow on the string."

"She's telling the truth," Lydia seconded. "I've seen her shoot before."

"If this is going come to fighting – if it'll be that dangerous – then I might have to tell Will," Clark warned. "Or at least Nick."

"Please don't! You know neither will let me. Nick let me go, but only because he thought I'd be by myself. _Please_ don't tell! Promise you won't…please, please, _please_? This might be the only chance I get to find out what happened! And it'll supplement my training! And, and, and, Lydia's here! And – "

"Okay, okay!" Clark said, looking kind of startled. "I won't tell."

"Thank you!" Roxie said in immense relief.

Then Clark frowned. "Can't you take care of yourself by now?"

"Yes, but they don't realize that. Comes with the territory when you've lived with someone since you're five. And you'd be surprised how easily they can keep me locked in the house."

"Fair enough," Clark conceded.

Then the horse whinnied, looking almost annoyed.

Roxie glanced toward her, hesitated, and glanced toward the others.

"Oh, go on," Lydia said, rolling her eyes. "We all know you Rangers talk to your horses."

Roxie grinned, then turned to the horse. "All right, come on Star." The horse moved forward, and Roxie talked soothingly toward the horse, in a quiet voice they couldn't hear. Finally, Star accepted an apple from Roxie and moved back into the trees.

"Okay," Roxie began, "now that I've told you my story, you tell me yours."

"Right." Hal was the one who answered her of course. He gave Roxie a brief history of how they had lost the Andomal, how they had been chasing Zavac, and how they had ended up there.

"Okay," Roxie said, nodding. "That makes sense." The girl yawned. "I can trust you guys not to kill me in my sleep, right?"

Hal couldn't help smiling. "Of course." He did like the girl, in the way she acted, as though the whole world was a stage, and she had to know everything that was on it.

"Good. I'm going to bed." Roxie slipped into her tent, obviously going to sleep.

"We ought to get to bed, too," Thorn announced. "Jesper, you're on first watch. Then Stefan. Then Hal. Then that girl. She needs to take a turn, too." Then the sea wolf lowered his voice a little. "All right – what do you make of this Roxie girl?"

"I like her," Hal said immediately.

Thorn turned a despairing eye on him. "We know you like her. It was obvious from the way you were watching her during the whole conversation. The point is, can we trust her, and do we want her for our guide?"

"I think so," Lydia told him. "She knows the terrain really well. And I know we can trust her. I've known her since I was two."

"I think we can trust her, too," Ulf announced. (Or it could have been Wulf.)

"And me," the other twin quickly agreed.

Thorn studied them. "Anyone have any objection?"

No one did. For a long moment, Thorn seemed to be considering.

Then a voice came from Roxie's tent. "You do know I can hear every word you're saying, don't you? Look, if you're really that worried, then keep an eye on me for the first few days, then decide whether you can trust me. At the very least, I'd be able to help you with the fighting. And I'm a healer. Your choice, though. Now would you please be quiet? If I'm going to take a turn on watch, then I need to get some sleep."

Thorn frowned, annoyed. "You talk a lot, don't you?"

"Sometimes." They could hear the smile in her voice.

Lydia grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so in this chapter, it isn't that interesting (in my opinion). They have to learn to trust each other though, and they have to get the measure of each other's abilities so that there is a mutual respect. **

**Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like John Flanagan? No, I do not. And if I was, I would not be writing this fanfiction, I would just turn it into the Royal Ranger so that it was completely canon.**

**Hope you like this!**

Chapter Four

The next morning, Edvin made breakfast. He claimed it was only fair – after all, Roxie had made dinner the night before.

"Where is Roxie, anyway?" Lydia asked idly.

"Collecting firewood," Hal answered.

"So she says," Thorn muttered darkly.

"Yes," Hal agreed. "So she says – and I, for one, believe her."

"That's very comforting," Thorn said sarcastically. "It's not as though you fancy her – "

"I barely _know_ her!"

"You talking about me?" came Roxie's cheerful voice.

"Yes," Thorn answered curtly. "What were you doing?"

"Why, collecting firewood, of course! And before you ask, yes, I was up early – one of the effects of Ranger training. Oh, hey, you're making breakfast! That'll be a nice change."

"I need you to answer some questions for me. So I know I can trust you," Thorn announced.

Roxie studied him for a moment. "I've got a better idea," she told the seawolf. "Hal asks me questions. I'm less likely to lose my temper than if you did. And for every question I answer, you have to answer one as well."

"And what's to stop us from simply attacking you?"

"The fact that you like me. And, anyway, if you knew anything about Rangers, you'd know that that if you did, I could easily disappear into the forest at a moment's notice, then pick you off one by one with my arrows, preferably from a spot up in a tree."

"Hey," Hal intervened. "Would you two quit it? Thorn – you know we need her for our guide. And, anyway, Lydia trusts her. Roxie – I really hardly know you, but from what I've seen so far, it seems you like to contradict everything anyone says. Could you please try to control that for now?"

"Fine," Thorn said grumpily.

"Fine," Roxie repeated.

"And," Hal added, "you don't have to keep reminding us that you're a dangerous girl. We got that part."

Roxie grinned a little. "Not my fault – everyone keeps underestimating me. It really makes it hard to intimidate someone when you're this tall, you know. Not to mention the whole gender barrier thing."

"I won't underestimate you," Hal promised.

Roxie smiled at him. "Good. So, let's get to these questions, shall we?"

After everyone had their breakfast, they all gathered around to watch Hal and Roxie while they asked their questions.

"Um. Tell us more about why you're here." Hal looked up from his sheet of paper, to meet Roxie's gaze.

After a moment, Roxie sighed. "All right. When I was nine years old, my best friend disappeared. His name was Sam – I was supposed to meet him on the mountain late at night with one of my other friends. I did end up going, and he showed up, too, apparently. Someone down in the village heard a scream, and a couple minutes later, Marcie and I – Marcie was my other friend – Marcie and I showed up at Will's door, babbling about how Sam was in trouble, and something about ravens. The next morning I woke up and couldn't remember a thing. Neither could Marcie. I found out about Zavac by accident – Lydia mentioned his ship, the _Raven,_ and from there I just figured that his ship was the _Raven_, we were talking about ravens, it might be a good lead. I've been waiting for a chance to talk to Zavac for a couple of years now, so when I heard about him being here, I had to come."

"I'm sorry – "

"It's not your fault. My turn, right? Um…" Roxie consulted her notebook. "What are you planning on doing to Zavac and his crew, specifically Sam if he shows up?"

Hal blinked. "Well, I was mostly just thinking about getting the Andomal back. We'll let you talk to him, though, before we kill him or anything else. And…you might want to tell us what Sam looks like, so nothing will happen to him."

"He's medium height, with brown hair and brown eyes, he's always smiling or laughing, he's the same age as me, he fights with a sword, he always bites his lip when he concentrates, he's always making a joke out of the situation, he loves to do random things, sometimes reckless things, and he always gets this crazy grin on his face when he's looking forward to something."

"Okay. What do you mean, he's always making a joke out of the situation?"

"I mean, if you had a sword at his throat and you were threatening to kill him, he still would. That's how he does everything. Back when I used to get teased, he'd come in and just make everyone laugh. He'd pretend it was a scene from a play, and he was the director, or something like that. Trust me – he'd be joking in the absolute worst situation. Hey, does that count as a question?"

"Only if that does," Hal answered quickly.

Roxie laughed easily. "I like you. You're quick."

"All right, so, is it my turn?"

"No! It is my turn. Trust me, I've been keeping track."

"Okay, fine," Hal agreed. "What's your question?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Hal blinked. "Um…no. That was a weird question."

"Shows how much you know," Roxie teased. "No, see, I'm trying to figure out your character. That way I know whether _I_ can trust _you_. Trust me, I know exactly what I'm doing." Suddenly, the girl frowned. "Hey…that's a weird expression, isn't it? I mean, like, obviously, you guys don't trust me, and , I mean, if I said it to one of my other friends, then they would already trust me, but then I suppose that it means 'trust me on this', like trust my judgment…"

"Um…sure."

"Anyway, your turn."

"Give us one good reason why we can trust you," Hal said.

Roxie tilted her head to the side. "I s'pose because Lydia trusts me. And besides. You need me. And you like me – don't you?"

Hal raised one eyebrow. "I suppose. That doesn't mean I trust you though."

"I really do like the way you put things. Okay, um, this doesn't count – how many more questions do you have?"

"None, really, those were all the important ones."

"Okay. My question. How do I know _I_ can trust _you_?"

"Same reasons. My question – "

"You can't just say, 'same reasons' like that. I came up with those."

"Yes, I know," Hal agreed. "And I used them. Anyway, what was that song you were talking about? 'Everything Has Changed' or something like that?"

Roxie paused. "That's kind of a weird question too, but okay. I'll sing it for you tonight." She stood up and let her gaze sweep across the whole group. "All right, I need to go to the store – Edvin can come with me if you still don't think you can trust me – so anybody have any last questions?"

"Yes – why Hal? Why not one of the others?" Lydia wanted to know.

Roxie considered that. Looked over at Hal. Shrugged. "I like him the best so far. Well, except for Lydia, because I knew her before. And I like Edvin, too. And –"

"Yes, okay, we get it." Jesper rolled his eyes.

Roxie grinned. "Well, I have to go to the market to get some more supplies. To make sure you can trust me or whatever, then you can go ahead and send Edvin with me."

With that, she started off, Edvin running after her.

"So now what?" Hal inquired.

"Now," Thorn said with a vicious smile, "I've got you all."

This led to a chorus of groans from the Herons.

Ten minutes later, when Roxie and Edvin returned, the Herons were all practicing – somehow, Thorn still had the greased platforms, and they were practicing fighting on them.

The moment they got back, Thorn ordered Edvin up on one.

Then he turned to Roxie and Lydia, who were watching with interest.

"What about you?" he asked. "You joining us?"

Lydia shook her head, smiling. "No thanks."

Roxie studied them for a moment, then said, "Maybe in a minute, but I think I'll practice on my own first."

She set everything down and looked around. "Over there," Roxie decided. She walked over to the spot she had chosen, pulling out her bow and adjusting her quiver of arrows as she did so. Thorn shrugged and turned his attention back to his men.

Three minutes later, Hal fell off his perch. This wasn't such an unusual thing, but what was unusual was that he didn't get back up. He was staring at something behind everyone else.

Thorn frowned. "What are you doing?"

"Wow," Hal managed.

That, of course, got everyone else's attention, and they turned to see what he was looking at.

It was Roxie. And she was doing some very incredible shooting. It took her maybe four seconds per shot, and she was clearly hitting the things she was aiming at.

It didn't take long for her to run out of arrows.

"_Wow_," Hal repeated.

Roxie seemed to notice that they were looking at her, and she turned around.

"What?" she asked, clearly uncomfortable with the attention.

"How did you do that?" Hal queried.

Roxie shifted from foot to foot. "I told you, I've been in training for a long time."

"I'll bet you couldn't really do that with a target I chose," Thorn scoffed.

Instantly Roxie straightened, glared at him. "I'll bet I could!"

"Show me what you've got," Thorn challenged.

"Gladly. You'll eat your words, old man."

"I doubt that, Mis – "

"Choose a target." Roxie collected her arrows and walked over to them.

Thorn smiled evilly at her. "That leaf," he said, pointing.

Roxie frowned for a long moment, peering in the direction he was gesturing. Then, finally, she spoke. "You're going to have to tell me which leaf," she informed him. "There are a lot of leaves in that direction."

Thorn walked over, with Roxie following, and showed her. Roxie shrugged, walked back, and politely asked the boys on either side of her to scoot over a little. She pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocked it, drew, sighted, and released.

"There you go," Roxie said sweetly. "I hit it."

And she had. It was an incredible display of marksmanship, something that likely would have been impossible for anyone but another Ranger.

Thorn studied her shrewdly, like he was trying to see something he hadn't before.

Then he shrugged. "All right, what about fighting with a sword? Or those knives you carry?"

This time it wasn't a challenge. Thorn had seemed to come to an understanding with the girl, without saying a word.

"I can throw my knives with pretty good accuracy," Roxie answered. "And also, I can defend myself against a sword with them, but I can't use a sword or axe. I'm pretty good with unarmed fighting, too, plus I have all the Ranger skills – moving silently, tracking, and so on."

Thorn nodded at that. He paused, studying her, then spoke. "You sure you don't want to train with us?"

"You don't seem to have any extra," Roxie pointed out, gesturing to the wooden logs.

"You could train on the net," Ingvar said. "Couldn't she, Thorn?"

"That's true," Thorn agreed. "Let's see how well you do with that."

The entire brotherband gathered around to see how she did. Thorn started out by calling the cadence slowly, much slower than he had for most of the Herons. Roxie completed it with almost contemptuous ease, so he started to speed up. It didn't take her too long to get about as fast as Ulf and Wulf had been when they first started. Thorn continued to speed up.

Roxie tripped over the net, but managed to catch herself.

"No," Thorn scolded, "you're rushing. Don't rush. Just do what I tell you at the speed I tell you. If you have to slow down, then I will. If you try to go too fast, your thinking goes too fast. Stay at the speed I'm going."

Roxie scowled, but got into her ready position. Thorn started again, and this time she got a little faster before falling.

"Okay, you're about average," Thorn said. "Keep practicing here while everybody else _goes back to their own training."_

The Herons moved over to their own training places and started up again. Thorn followed them. Lydia called the cadence for Roxie.

After a moment, Roxie took out her knives and started miming strokes with them as she stepped back and forth in the net.

All this went on for a while, then Thorn called a stop and waited until they all came over to him before speaking again. "All right," he began, "now we're going to start practice bouts. Roxie, if you want, you can go back to the net, the others are all good with it now and can probably defeat you in any kind of fight."

"Excuse me?" Roxie straightened. "You should know by now to give me a chance before you judge, old man."

Thorn studied the girl. "Fine," he agreed. "You can fight against Hal to show us what you can do. Straight out combat, no archery or long distance."

Roxie shrugged. "Okay."

The others exchanged worried glances. By now, they could recognize that Hal was one of their best fighters.

"Ready positions," Thorn ordered.

Hal rather uneasily moved into place. "Look, Thorn," he started, "don't you think she should try against someone closer to her size? Like, maybe, Edvin?"

"Begin," was all Thorn said.

Roxie waited, both knives in her hands, studying Hal, waiting for his move. Hal, rather half-heartedly, aimed a stroke at her shoulder.

Roxie easily blocked it, both knives coming up to form an X. Hal stopped, surprised.

"Go on," Roxie taunted. "Take a swing. Or are you too afraid?"

Hal narrowed his eyes and swung a full roundhouse swing at the small girl in front of him. She blocked him again.

And then things really got interesting. The fight lasted about five minutes. To make a long story short, Hal won.

But it was close. And Roxie's fighting was rather impressive.

Thorn said so, sounding rather surprised. "Where'd you learn that?" he asked with interest. "I've never seen that style of fighting before."

"It's standard Ranger training. Most people don't expect it, so it works pretty well. It took me forever to learn, though. I may be a fast learner, but I had a lot of trouble with this."

"Clearly you got it eventually," Thorn said, eyeing the girl.

Roxie shrugged. "You can get anything eventually, if you practice it enough. Will tells me that a lot.

"Hmmm," was Thorn's only response.

"Okay," Roxie said, "whenever you're ready, we really should get going."

"Where are we going?" Hal queried.

That was how, five minutes later, they were all crowded around a map that was lying on the ground.

"See," Roxie explained, "we're here. And I can't say I know for sure, but I'm pretty sure that Zavac is here. Don't ask me about tracking," she warned, forestalling Stefan's question, "because I don't know where he started. And if I ask someone in town, then information might carry and he might find out we're coming after him. That could be dangerous."

"This is already dangerous," Lydia pointed out.

Roxie shrugged. "It'll make it more likely that we'll get killed, then."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Roxie continued, "to get there we need to get through here." She tapped a spot on the map. "Most people prefer to go around this route, instead of directly through, because there are thieves hiding in the middle of it. I prefer to go around because that's where Will is right now, he stopped by there on the way to where he's going. So we'll be going this way, then turning here to get to the castle. It's the fastest safe route. And it's harder to navigate than it looks like, so don't try to get rid of me now that I've shown you."

"Is that all?" Edvin asked.

Roxie nodded, folding the map up to the way it had been before. "We should get going," the girl said.

Hal pulled her a little aside. "You said this was the safest route," he stated. "So why do I get the feeling that it isn't safe at all?"

"I said it was the fastest safe route," Roxie corrected him in an undertone. "But we will be in danger. We have to keep an eye out, or we could get killed before we even get to our fight."

**Dun, dun, dun! How was that? If you were wondering, they're trying to act like they already trust each other because they know they have no choice but to work together. Therefore, they want to act like they trust each other whether they do or not, because it will be miserable if they don't. Also, both sides trust Lydia's judgment. So there you go. Hopefully I won't take too long with the next chapter, I was away on a trip for these last few days so I couldn't update.**

**Oh, yeah – Happy Fourth of July to any Americans!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! I'm back. Sorry I didn't update, but I've had three family vacations lately, and all of them were at least a week, some were A LOT longer.**

**I've been getting reviews – which I am SO happy about. I know I've read about how authors like it when you review, but I only really understand now how awesome it is. So now I know people are reading this and it becomes easier to convince myself to write. Although this update did take a while. I named my reviewers at the bottom, by the way. Anyway – I am definitely not John Flanagan. Unfortunately. BUT he is working on the Royal Ranger! **

**Quick question – does anyone know about the Brotherband Chronicles Book Four? Because it sounded like he was going to write more, but I haven't heard anything about it…**

**Anyway, here's the story.**

**Chapter Five**

Edvin stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He had thought he was in shape, but trekking through the forest – not even on a trail, just through the foliage – tired him out surprisingly quickly. Well, Edvin thought, at least I'm not the only one.

Indeed, most of his brotherband was just as tired as he was. The only ones who seemed fine were Thorn, Lydia, and Roxie herself. Well, and Roxie's horse. Everyone else seemed to be in varying degrees of exhaustion.

Surprisingly, Ulf and Wulf were at the front, talking to Roxie. She kept laughing at the way they talked. Edvin couldn't be sure, but he suspected that they were trying to compete to get Roxie to like them. She was pretty, to be fair. But it was a kind of quiet prettiness, that took you a while to notice. Not really like Lydia had struck them all when she first met them.

Hal was at the back of the group, but Edvin suspected that it was more for the purpose of a lookout than because he was too tired to keep up.

It had been three days since they first met Roxie. Each day, they started out with training, then walked. And walked, and walked, and walked. The walking was endless.

By now, Lydia had convinced them to trust her cousin, although Thorn at least still had reservations. She was fairly cheerful, and she liked to talk. She definitely liked to talk. That was how she passed the time as they walked.

Edvin had to admit – he liked her. She seemed to like him, too. She had been talking mostly to him, along with Lydia, Stefan, Ulf and Wulf, and Hal. Though, admittedly, most of the time, when she talked to Hal, she was pulling him aside and they would talk in serious tones. That was probably mostly just business stuff.

Lost in his own thoughts, Edvin was caught by surprise when the people in front of him stopped, and he ran into Jesper. "Sorry," Edvin muttered. Then he added, "Why are we stopping?"

"I don't know," Jesper responded.

"I'll go find out," Edvin said. He tried to move around the people in front of him. A moment later, Hal was next to him, easily finding his way through the brush. Edvin tried to mimic his path, figuring that Hal could find a better way than he could anyway.

It didn't take long to get to the front. Edvin stayed quiet so he could listen to what Hal and Roxie said.

"What is it?" Hal asked in an undertone.

"Tracks," Roxie said in the same quiet manner. "The same ones as before, I think, but this time they look fresh, and I'm a little worried that it'll be today that we catch up to this group. But just in case it's not, I don't want to worry the others. So I need you and Thorn to stay up here and be on your guard. And put some other good fighter at the back, and tell them to be on their guard, just in case."

"I can do that," Edvin offered.

Hal looked rather startled by that, like he hadn't realized Edvin was there, but he nodded, glancing at Roxie. Almost like he was asking for her permission.

_How long had that been going on without him noticing?_ Edvin couldn't help but be surprised. He had never seen Hal ask for permission from anyone, except maybe Thorn. To see him doing that for Roxie meant that he had a major amount of respect for her.

"Well, go on, then," Roxie said impatiently.

Edvin realized that he had been standing there staring at the two for several seconds. He quickly turned and made his way around the others to get to the back.

Roxie pov

Roxie watched Edvin go. He was a nice guy, someone she enjoyed talking to. But she wished he hadn't overheard that.

She looked at Hal. He was watching her steadily, waiting.

She cocked her head. "What?"

"Don't you think we ought to send Thorn to the back, too? I'm sure the two of us will be fine."

Roxie considered it. "Why not?" she decided. It would be nice to have a real conversation with Hal, too, after all, finally without Thorn sticking his nose in.

Hal relayed the idea to Thorn, and Thorn, surprisingly, agreed, leaving the two as the leaders of the group.

"On we go then," Hal murmured.

So they did start off again.

Roxie stole a sideways glance at him, remembering her first assessment of him. She had pretty much been right on.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"And I thought I was being discreet," Roxie commented.

Hal grinned. "Yeah, well, not as discreet as you should have been."

"You know," Roxie said thoughtfully, "I really don't know that much about you. And I won't ask you anything I can't answer myself, so let's start with the basics. What's your favorite color?"

"I like green," Hal answered. "You?"

"Blue. I could tell you the exact shade of blue, I've done it before, but it might take a while, so I'll spare you the details."

Hal smiled again.

He seems to do that a lot, Roxie thought distractedly. I wasn't under the impression that he was a huge smiler, but he has been doing it a lot lately.

"All right," Hal said. "I guess that makes it my turn. Favorite…place."

"Oh, that. Well, you can't tell anyone."

"I won't," Hal promised.

Roxie shrugged. "There's this place in the forest about a half of a kilometer from where I live. It's a clearing, but it's pretty well hidden. There's a family of wolves that live there, but they leave me alone as long as I leave them alone, so when I'm upset or confused, I just like to sit there and think. What about you?"

"That sounds really cool. I was just going to say that I like sailing the Heron." He paused. "Speaking of which, are you sure- "

"Yes, it's perfectly safe, I promise. Mr. Baker is very careful with the ships in his shipyard. He'll keep it safe. I really am sorry you had to leave it."

"That's all right," Hal said unconvincingly.

"Mmm-hmmm." Roxie made it clear that she didn't believe him.

Hal smiled a little sheepishly. "I just get kind of protective of my ship."

Roxie laughed. "That's all right. We all have something we get that protective of. For me…well, I don't know what it is for me. Maybe people? I have some younger siblings, and I've always been really protective of them, as well as all my other friends." She paused, then just a little shyly, she added, "Like you."

"We are friends, aren't we?" Hal asked the question in a tone of contentment, like he had just found some interesting new thing that he was happy with.

Roxie opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Star, trotting alongside Roxie, let out a whinny, and Roxie froze.

"What?" Hal inquired, though he had a pretty good idea as to what it was.

"That means that there are other people nearby," Roxie replied. "So, we've caught up to them, in other words."

"So, is that good or bad?"

"Could be either. Depends on your point of view. It's better than them sneaking up on us, anyway. Hal…what do you want to do? Should we try to get around them or challenge them or negotiate passage through their camp?"

Hal sighed. "I doubt that we could all get past them undetected, honestly. I don't know how many there are or how good they are at fighting, so I'll just ask – what do you think? Should we challenge or negotiate?"

"Criminals are notoriously hard to negotiate with, and we don't have much of anything they'd value, so I'm just gonna go with challenging."

"All right, then. Let's go challenge some thieves."

**Thanks to:**

**Kiss-My-Asphalt**** - thanks!**

**Hibernia12**** - You'll understand Roxie a little more as you keep reading - she's not always like that.**

**royriza4ever**** - I'm glad you like it! I know JUST how you feel about Royal Ranger!**

**The Spoon Master**** - First off, thanks for the criticism. Second - let me explain some of those things a little more. I know what you mean about the trust thing - I kind of did rush through it, because I wanted to get to the good stuff. But also understand - they really need a guide, and then after a little while, Lydia did say that they could trust her, so that makes it go a little faster. Then the names. I, personally, like them. But I will have you know that I did originally begin looking for other names, but these were the only ones that seemed to fit. I'm sorry it wasn't clear when I switched between the point of view things, but I couldn't figure out how to do a line break. I tried to make that better in this chapter. I really will use this advice - and thanks for the good stuff, too!**

**PJoHoOFan**** - Thanks for that! Unfortunately, as cool as it WOULD be if will came in, he can't until later in the story, or the plot I was working on won't work the way I wanted it to.**

**Thanks to all for reviewing! Please keep reading, and I'm sorry if updates become a little sporadic here - I just started school, so it might get harder, but I'll do my best. Bye!**


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